Legislators seek to curb local tax hikes

By John Kennedy, GateHouse Capital Bureau

Friday

Mar 15, 2019 at 7:31 PM

TALLAHASSEE — Amid complaints that Florida’s tax-averse, Republican-led Legislature fails to steer enough cash to local governments, voters in 11 counties went ahead and raised their own taxes last year to pay for schools, roads and other community services.

But many lawmakers didn’t like that. And now, a Legislature that hasn’t raised a major tax in a decade is looking to make it harder for other governments to do so.

“I believe our citizens deserve better than just a simple majority in order to tax,” said Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, a former Florida Republican Party chairman whose Twitter handle, @GovGoneWild, underscores his view that public spending is out of control.

“These campaigns are very sophisticated,” Ingoglia said of the local ballot measures. “It’s relatively easy to get these things passed.”

In what has become an annual tug-of-war between state and local officials, Republican lawmakers are pushing back against last year’s robust election season that saw voters in counties up and down Florida approve a wide range of tax increases.

While Florida lawmakers often squawk that Washington frequently overreaches into states, the Legislature does the same to counties, defenders of local governments say.

“I believe our taxes were sorely needed,” said Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, where 57 percent of voters in her home Hillsborough County approved a 1 percent sales tax in November to finance transit and infrastructure improvements.

“To not be able to decide how we raise our money and spend it, I have real issues with that,” Hart said. “We keep talking about home rule. Well, we’re affecting home rule.”

Legislation advancing in the House and Senate would require that all proposed sales-tax increases proposed by counties and school districts appear on the November ballot, eliminating the possibility of them being timed for lower-turnout primaries or special elections.

The House proposal goes even further – raising the bar by demanding that sales-tax measures win approval only if they’re backed by at least two-thirds of voters.

“We’re talking about raising taxes here,” said Rep. Nick DiCeglie, R-Indian Rocks Beach, sponsor of the measure. “And in doing so, it should be done when the most amount of people traditionally can vote, which would be in a general election. We need to keep the threshold high.”

Records show that voters generally support local sales taxes, and they’ve evolved into a reliable source of money for governments looking to build more schools, widen roads or provide other services. Last year, voters in Columbia County killed a one-cent sales tax for transportation, but that was among only a few local proposals defeated.

Sixty-six of Florida’s 67 counties now have at least one extra sales tax charge, which will generate almost $4.3 billion this year.

But the legislative measures (HB 5, SB 336) clamping-down on such ballot proposals are advancing, and likely need to clear one more committee in both the House and Senate before coming up for a full vote.

The tax increases, themselves, were at least partially inspired by actions taken by Tallahassee, said critics of the legislation.

Some attributed the need for more money to increased school security demands ordered by lawmakers in legislation approved following last year’s massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

While eight of the 11 sales-tax measures approved by voters did appear on the November ballot, only three of the entire lineup gained the two-thirds support that the House wants imposed.

Unaffected by the legislation would be property-tax increases that voters in a host of other counties approved to pump-up funding for schools, road work and other local services.

Sarasota and Manatee counties were among at least a half-dozen counties that approved property tax-hikes or government bond issues, many of them earmarked for schools. The votes in Sarasota and Manatee, though, were during a low-turnout, special election vote in March – whose timing enflames lawmakers behind the push to force sales-tax votes to the November ballot.

Under the Florida Constitution, lawmakers have less authority over counties on property-tax matters.

Still, supporters of the current system say Florida taxpayers show they are willing to pay more taxes if they feel the return will be worth it.

“Voters know what they’re doing. Why should you limit their ability to respond to local needs?” said Cragin Mosteller with the Florida Association of Counties.

While the legislation appears partially inspired by last year’s parade of tax measures, lawmakers did last spring did try to head them off.

During the 2018 session, lawmakers tucked a provision into a $171 million package of tax breaks that required counties to have a certified public accountant complete a “performance audit” of the program in line to receive tax-vote dollars.

The audit was to be completed 60 days before the tax vote, with findings and recommendations posted on the county or school board’s website for voters to review.

Some counties complained that lawmakers were hoping this new audit requirement would unearth data that would convince voters to reject higher taxes.

But based on election results, it appears few were dissuaded from taxing themselves to pay for local projects.

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